I am new to composting and have a compost bin which I put garden waste, vegetable and fruit waste in, but every time I take the lid off I get swarmed by loads of fruit flies. How can I get rid of them, they're driving me crazy!! ?

They're part of the process, so you can't really get rid of them. If your compost bins are placed away from your home they shouldn't be such a problem.
Collect up your kitchen-scraps in a container with a lid & empty it only once a week.

The flies are attracted by the stagnant smell of rotting compost. If your aireate and turn the heap regularly, not only will this help your compost it will deter the build up of bacteria reducing the stagnant smells, and therfor ethe fruit flies.

They are horrible. I only have a small compost bin, but every time I open the lid I have to step to one side or I get ingulfed in a cloud of them!

Urggh! I just got the biggest fruit fly cloud ever! GROSS!!! There were also these little beetle things under the rim of the lid. A bit like woodlice but a lighter shade of browne, and a bit more "fringy" around the edges. What are they?

Do as the man says - get in their and turn it a bit. there will be a cloud to start with, but it'll go!

My compost bin is just the same, every tim I open the lid millions of the little blighters swarm out. What's worse is they have attacked my strawberry plants! I have not had any fruit for myself thanks to the fruit fly! Should I get rid of my strawberry plants now? Or can I still plant the runners?

No problems. Place a layer of cardboard or newspaper over each new deposit of compost. Also keep a bucket of soil by and spread a layer over new depsots- this will reduce flies. Also a good way to recycle newspapers!

"Place a layer of cardboard or newspaper over each new deposit of compost." By this are you referring to the matter deposited in the composter?

your compost bin is to wet add paper

Although my compost bin is at the end of the garden I still have the small flies in my house, I can't even have a glass of wine without having to pick out the flies - urghh!! Also my neighbour happened to mention all the small flies they are getting in their house, I bet they have all come from my compost bin. No-one mentioned this when talking about recycling!!